Birmingham City

4 September 2012

Birmingham City slideshow

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle urge schoolgirls to break gender stereotypes on International Women’s Day

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are celebrating International Women’s Day by encouraging schoolgirls to break down gender stereotypes by pursuing careers in science, maths and engineering. The Royal couple travelled to Birmingham to attend an event where young women are taking part in a range of activities from speed networking opportunities with local businesses to a panel discussion. The couple were greeted by John Crabtree, Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands. Ms Markle wore a coat by J Crew, trousers by Alexander Wang and an All Saints jumper. Harry and Meghan went on a walkabout shaking hands and greeting around 300 well-wishers and school children who had waited patiently to meet them. Two elderly sisters, Irene Gould, 82, and her younger sibling June Dickinson, 78, were also ecstatic after meeting Harry and his fiancee. Mrs Gould said: "We were just so pleased to meet them, and how beautiful Meghan is. We thanked Harry for coming to see us and wished them all the best for their marriage." Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chat to two women on their visit to Birmingham Credit: Victoria Jones /PA Student Charlotte Highsmith, from Oxford, was overcome with excitement after meeting Meghan and said: "Oh my God, it was worth the wait - I've missed my lecture." The 20-year-old, who is studying criminology and policing at Birmingham City University, added: "Meghan just thanked us for waiting in the rain for her, but it wasn't a problem." The visit is the latest leg in the regional tours the prince and his fiancee are undertaking in the run-up to their May wedding, and follows trips to Edinburgh, Nottingham, Cardiff and Brixton in south London. Meghan Markle talks to children as she arrives in Birmingham Credit: Chris Jackson /Getty The events are giving Ms Markle a personal education in the issues faced in parts of the UK and nationally, and complement the private visits she is regularly making to organisations as she gets to know the UK charity sector. Thursday's highly-anticipated visit comes after it emerged Ms Markle has reportedly been baptised and confirmed in the Church of England at a private ceremony led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Birmingham's visit began with the now familiar walkabout before Harry and Ms Markle chatted to young women as they took part in building apps and touchpads, before hearing more about their motivations to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects. Prince Harry beams as he chats to children in Birmingham Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph Hosted by social enterprise Stemettes at Millennium Point, the event also offers information on work experience, apprenticeships, A-level choices, and university degrees in Stem topics. Harry and Ms Markle started the event by trying virtual headsets with students from Blessed Edward Oldcorne School in Birmingham. The couple tried on the headsets, which resembled a virtual rollercoaster. Ms Markle asked the students what they wanted to do as a career and was impressed with the answers of surgeons and doctors. The pupils described the experience as surreal after the couple shook their hands and went on to other workshops. Meghan Markle hugs a schoolgirl in Birmingham Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph After finishing talking through various pieces of technology with the students, the pair sat together to listen to speeches from inspiring women in Stem industries. Ms Markle was shocked by some of the technology on display, including pianos made out of bananas and how to "hack the web". She told some students that the coding they were working on was very impressive, saying: "Wow, that's really cool." Meghan Markle chats to youngsters Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph Prince Harry shared his finance's thoughts and encouraged the talented students to go into careers in science and maths. The couple left the event after both were given a goody bag which said: "I am not just a bag, I am a Stemettes bag." They received a huge round of applause from the 90 female students as they made their way to their next event. The couple also gave prizes to three winners of a speech-writing competition in which they spoke about their most inspiring women. Harry and Ms Markle nodded in approval after each of the speeches and gave all three a generous clap at the end. Meghan Markle kneels as he chats to flag-waving children Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph The Coach Core apprenticeship scheme was designed by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to train people aged 16 - 24 with limited opportunities to become sports coaches and mentors within their communities. During the year-long apprenticeship, which now operates in 10 cities across the UK, young people learn technical sport skills alongside an inclusive and holistic approach to coaching, with an emphasis on employability and mentoring skills. Ms Markle is due to become the fourth patron of the Royal Foundation when she marries the prince and the couple will chat to the apprentices about their experiences of the programme, launched in Birmingham in March last year, before joining them in the sports hall as they deliver practice training sessions. Royal well-wishers brave cold to greet couple Well-wishers began gathering hours before the prince and his bride-to-be were due to appear at Millennium Point. Despite the cold and wet conditions some in the crowds were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the couple who have been touring the nation since their engagement announcement last year. Stephen McNally, 61, from Stourbridge, said he travelled with a group of friends with many of them carrying bouquets for Ms Markle. Children wave flags as they wait to catch a glimpse of the royal couple Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Commenting on Harry's engagement to the American actress he said: "It will be different for her but I think they've learnt a lot from the past and that is why Meghan is doing these walkabouts and going round the country before she's getting married, I think it's really nice, rather than keeping things a secret like they used to do. "We hope to be going to Windsor for the wedding, on the streets or in the castle precinct." Schoolchildren await the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Retired teacher Josie Weeks, 62, from Leeds, got up at 5am to travel to Birmingham for the royal visit and carried a posy of white blooms for Ms Markle. She said: "I met the couple in Nottingham and just wanted to see them again and take some photographs. I think Harry's really coming into himself now with his charity work - he's stepped it up in the last few years. "The main thing is if he's happy with Meghan, that's all you want for him." Prince Harry: 'We want to get away from idea it’s all men in overalls and oily rags' On Wednesday, Prince Harry met young people from the Williams F1 Engineering Academy during a visit to Silverstone. Talking to female students Tara Vooght and Lauren Bull, both 15, who are studying there with the hope of going on to be engineers, he told them: “It’s a great choice, we want to get away from [the idea] that it’s all men in overalls and oily rags. “Do you think think that girls want to be [in engineering] and there aren’t opportunities or it is not really considered by them?” “There are a lot of stereotypes,” said Tara. “What men covered in grease?” asked Harry. “Yes, but it's not like that. There was a bit of adjustment at first from being at school but we are loving it.” Duchess of Cornwall also marking International Women’s Day The couple are not the only members of the Royal Family to mark International Women’s Day. The Duchess of Cornwall will host a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the day, in her role as president of the Southbank Centre’s Women of the World festival. Women Mean Business | Read about our campaign Guests are expected to include Annie Lennox, Mary Portas, Kate Mosse OBE, Fatima Manji, Josette Bushell-Mingo, Kathy Lette, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Baroness Valerie Amos, Jo Swinson MP and Jess Phillips MP. Telegraph Women Facebook Group banner

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle urge schoolgirls to break gender stereotypes on International Women’s Day

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are celebrating International Women’s Day by encouraging schoolgirls to break down gender stereotypes by pursuing careers in science, maths and engineering. The Royal couple travelled to Birmingham to attend an event where young women are taking part in a range of activities from speed networking opportunities with local businesses to a panel discussion. The couple were greeted by John Crabtree, Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands. Ms Markle wore a coat by J Crew, trousers by Alexander Wang and an All Saints jumper. Harry and Meghan went on a walkabout shaking hands and greeting around 300 well-wishers and school children who had waited patiently to meet them. Two elderly sisters, Irene Gould, 82, and her younger sibling June Dickinson, 78, were also ecstatic after meeting Harry and his fiancee. Mrs Gould said: "We were just so pleased to meet them, and how beautiful Meghan is. We thanked Harry for coming to see us and wished them all the best for their marriage." Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chat to two women on their visit to Birmingham Credit: Victoria Jones /PA Student Charlotte Highsmith, from Oxford, was overcome with excitement after meeting Meghan and said: "Oh my God, it was worth the wait - I've missed my lecture." The 20-year-old, who is studying criminology and policing at Birmingham City University, added: "Meghan just thanked us for waiting in the rain for her, but it wasn't a problem." The visit is the latest leg in the regional tours the prince and his fiancee are undertaking in the run-up to their May wedding, and follows trips to Edinburgh, Nottingham, Cardiff and Brixton in south London. Meghan Markle talks to children as she arrives in Birmingham Credit: Chris Jackson /Getty The events are giving Ms Markle a personal education in the issues faced in parts of the UK and nationally, and complement the private visits she is regularly making to organisations as she gets to know the UK charity sector. Thursday's highly-anticipated visit comes after it emerged Ms Markle has reportedly been baptised and confirmed in the Church of England at a private ceremony led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Birmingham's visit began with the now familiar walkabout before Harry and Ms Markle chatted to young women as they took part in building apps and touchpads, before hearing more about their motivations to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects. Prince Harry beams as he chats to children in Birmingham Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph Hosted by social enterprise Stemettes at Millennium Point, the event also offers information on work experience, apprenticeships, A-level choices, and university degrees in Stem topics. Harry and Ms Markle started the event by trying virtual headsets with students from Blessed Edward Oldcorne School in Birmingham. The couple tried on the headsets, which resembled a virtual rollercoaster. Ms Markle asked the students what they wanted to do as a career and was impressed with the answers of surgeons and doctors. The pupils described the experience as surreal after the couple shook their hands and went on to other workshops. Meghan Markle hugs a schoolgirl in Birmingham Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph After finishing talking through various pieces of technology with the students, the pair sat together to listen to speeches from inspiring women in Stem industries. Ms Markle was shocked by some of the technology on display, including pianos made out of bananas and how to "hack the web". She told some students that the coding they were working on was very impressive, saying: "Wow, that's really cool." Meghan Markle chats to youngsters Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph Prince Harry shared his finance's thoughts and encouraged the talented students to go into careers in science and maths. The couple left the event after both were given a goody bag which said: "I am not just a bag, I am a Stemettes bag." They received a huge round of applause from the 90 female students as they made their way to their next event. The couple also gave prizes to three winners of a speech-writing competition in which they spoke about their most inspiring women. Harry and Ms Markle nodded in approval after each of the speeches and gave all three a generous clap at the end. Meghan Markle kneels as he chats to flag-waving children Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph The Coach Core apprenticeship scheme was designed by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to train people aged 16 - 24 with limited opportunities to become sports coaches and mentors within their communities. During the year-long apprenticeship, which now operates in 10 cities across the UK, young people learn technical sport skills alongside an inclusive and holistic approach to coaching, with an emphasis on employability and mentoring skills. Ms Markle is due to become the fourth patron of the Royal Foundation when she marries the prince and the couple will chat to the apprentices about their experiences of the programme, launched in Birmingham in March last year, before joining them in the sports hall as they deliver practice training sessions. Royal well-wishers brave cold to greet couple Well-wishers began gathering hours before the prince and his bride-to-be were due to appear at Millennium Point. Despite the cold and wet conditions some in the crowds were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the couple who have been touring the nation since their engagement announcement last year. Stephen McNally, 61, from Stourbridge, said he travelled with a group of friends with many of them carrying bouquets for Ms Markle. Children wave flags as they wait to catch a glimpse of the royal couple Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Commenting on Harry's engagement to the American actress he said: "It will be different for her but I think they've learnt a lot from the past and that is why Meghan is doing these walkabouts and going round the country before she's getting married, I think it's really nice, rather than keeping things a secret like they used to do. "We hope to be going to Windsor for the wedding, on the streets or in the castle precinct." Schoolchildren await the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Retired teacher Josie Weeks, 62, from Leeds, got up at 5am to travel to Birmingham for the royal visit and carried a posy of white blooms for Ms Markle. She said: "I met the couple in Nottingham and just wanted to see them again and take some photographs. I think Harry's really coming into himself now with his charity work - he's stepped it up in the last few years. "The main thing is if he's happy with Meghan, that's all you want for him." Prince Harry: 'We want to get away from idea it’s all men in overalls and oily rags' On Wednesday, Prince Harry met young people from the Williams F1 Engineering Academy during a visit to Silverstone. Talking to female students Tara Vooght and Lauren Bull, both 15, who are studying there with the hope of going on to be engineers, he told them: “It’s a great choice, we want to get away from [the idea] that it’s all men in overalls and oily rags. “Do you think think that girls want to be [in engineering] and there aren’t opportunities or it is not really considered by them?” “There are a lot of stereotypes,” said Tara. “What men covered in grease?” asked Harry. “Yes, but it's not like that. There was a bit of adjustment at first from being at school but we are loving it.” Duchess of Cornwall also marking International Women’s Day The couple are not the only members of the Royal Family to mark International Women’s Day. The Duchess of Cornwall will host a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the day, in her role as president of the Southbank Centre’s Women of the World festival. Women Mean Business | Read about our campaign Guests are expected to include Annie Lennox, Mary Portas, Kate Mosse OBE, Fatima Manji, Josette Bushell-Mingo, Kathy Lette, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Baroness Valerie Amos, Jo Swinson MP and Jess Phillips MP. Telegraph Women Facebook Group banner

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle urge schoolgirls to break gender stereotypes on International Women’s Day

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are celebrating International Women’s Day by encouraging schoolgirls to break down gender stereotypes by pursuing careers in science, maths and engineering. The Royal couple travelled to Birmingham to attend an event where young women are taking part in a range of activities from speed networking opportunities with local businesses to a panel discussion. The couple were greeted by John Crabtree, Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands. Ms Markle wore a coat by J Crew, trousers by Alexander Wang and an All Saints jumper. Harry and Meghan went on a walkabout shaking hands and greeting around 300 well-wishers and school children who had waited patiently to meet them. Two elderly sisters, Irene Gould, 82, and her younger sibling June Dickinson, 78, were also ecstatic after meeting Harry and his fiancee. Mrs Gould said: "We were just so pleased to meet them, and how beautiful Meghan is. We thanked Harry for coming to see us and wished them all the best for their marriage." Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chat to two women on their visit to Birmingham Credit: Victoria Jones /PA Student Charlotte Highsmith, from Oxford, was overcome with excitement after meeting Meghan and said: "Oh my God, it was worth the wait - I've missed my lecture." The 20-year-old, who is studying criminology and policing at Birmingham City University, added: "Meghan just thanked us for waiting in the rain for her, but it wasn't a problem." The visit is the latest leg in the regional tours the prince and his fiancee are undertaking in the run-up to their May wedding, and follows trips to Edinburgh, Nottingham, Cardiff and Brixton in south London. Meghan Markle talks to children as she arrives in Birmingham Credit: Chris Jackson /Getty The events are giving Ms Markle a personal education in the issues faced in parts of the UK and nationally, and complement the private visits she is regularly making to organisations as she gets to know the UK charity sector. Thursday's highly-anticipated visit comes after it emerged Ms Markle has reportedly been baptised and confirmed in the Church of England at a private ceremony led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Birmingham's visit began with the now familiar walkabout before Harry and Ms Markle chatted to young women as they took part in building apps and touchpads, before hearing more about their motivations to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects. Prince Harry beams as he chats to children in Birmingham Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph Hosted by social enterprise Stemettes at Millennium Point, the event also offers information on work experience, apprenticeships, A-level choices, and university degrees in Stem topics. Harry and Ms Markle started the event by trying virtual headsets with students from Blessed Edward Oldcorne School in Birmingham. The couple tried on the headsets, which resembled a virtual rollercoaster. Ms Markle asked the students what they wanted to do as a career and was impressed with the answers of surgeons and doctors. The pupils described the experience as surreal after the couple shook their hands and went on to other workshops. Meghan Markle hugs a schoolgirl in Birmingham Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph After finishing talking through various pieces of technology with the students, the pair sat together to listen to speeches from inspiring women in Stem industries. Ms Markle was shocked by some of the technology on display, including pianos made out of bananas and how to "hack the web". She told some students that the coding they were working on was very impressive, saying: "Wow, that's really cool." Meghan Markle chats to youngsters Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph Prince Harry shared his finance's thoughts and encouraged the talented students to go into careers in science and maths. The couple left the event after both were given a goody bag which said: "I am not just a bag, I am a Stemettes bag." They received a huge round of applause from the 90 female students as they made their way to their next event. The couple also gave prizes to three winners of a speech-writing competition in which they spoke about their most inspiring women. Harry and Ms Markle nodded in approval after each of the speeches and gave all three a generous clap at the end. Meghan Markle kneels as he chats to flag-waving children Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph The Coach Core apprenticeship scheme was designed by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to train people aged 16 - 24 with limited opportunities to become sports coaches and mentors within their communities. During the year-long apprenticeship, which now operates in 10 cities across the UK, young people learn technical sport skills alongside an inclusive and holistic approach to coaching, with an emphasis on employability and mentoring skills. Ms Markle is due to become the fourth patron of the Royal Foundation when she marries the prince and the couple will chat to the apprentices about their experiences of the programme, launched in Birmingham in March last year, before joining them in the sports hall as they deliver practice training sessions. Royal well-wishers brave cold to greet couple Well-wishers began gathering hours before the prince and his bride-to-be were due to appear at Millennium Point. Despite the cold and wet conditions some in the crowds were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the couple who have been touring the nation since their engagement announcement last year. Stephen McNally, 61, from Stourbridge, said he travelled with a group of friends with many of them carrying bouquets for Ms Markle. Children wave flags as they wait to catch a glimpse of the royal couple Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Commenting on Harry's engagement to the American actress he said: "It will be different for her but I think they've learnt a lot from the past and that is why Meghan is doing these walkabouts and going round the country before she's getting married, I think it's really nice, rather than keeping things a secret like they used to do. "We hope to be going to Windsor for the wedding, on the streets or in the castle precinct." Schoolchildren await the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Retired teacher Josie Weeks, 62, from Leeds, got up at 5am to travel to Birmingham for the royal visit and carried a posy of white blooms for Ms Markle. She said: "I met the couple in Nottingham and just wanted to see them again and take some photographs. I think Harry's really coming into himself now with his charity work - he's stepped it up in the last few years. "The main thing is if he's happy with Meghan, that's all you want for him." Prince Harry: 'We want to get away from idea it’s all men in overalls and oily rags' On Wednesday, Prince Harry met young people from the Williams F1 Engineering Academy during a visit to Silverstone. Talking to female students Tara Vooght and Lauren Bull, both 15, who are studying there with the hope of going on to be engineers, he told them: “It’s a great choice, we want to get away from [the idea] that it’s all men in overalls and oily rags. “Do you think think that girls want to be [in engineering] and there aren’t opportunities or it is not really considered by them?” “There are a lot of stereotypes,” said Tara. “What men covered in grease?” asked Harry. “Yes, but it's not like that. There was a bit of adjustment at first from being at school but we are loving it.” Duchess of Cornwall also marking International Women’s Day The couple are not the only members of the Royal Family to mark International Women’s Day. The Duchess of Cornwall will host a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the day, in her role as president of the Southbank Centre’s Women of the World festival. Women Mean Business | Read about our campaign Guests are expected to include Annie Lennox, Mary Portas, Kate Mosse OBE, Fatima Manji, Josette Bushell-Mingo, Kathy Lette, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Baroness Valerie Amos, Jo Swinson MP and Jess Phillips MP. Telegraph Women Facebook Group banner

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle urge schoolgirls to break gender stereotypes on International Women’s Day

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are celebrating International Women’s Day by encouraging schoolgirls to break down gender stereotypes by pursuing careers in science, maths and engineering. The Royal couple travelled to Birmingham to attend an event where young women are taking part in a range of activities from speed networking opportunities with local businesses to a panel discussion. The couple were greeted by John Crabtree, Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands. Ms Markle wore a coat by J Crew, trousers by Alexander Wang and an All Saints jumper. Harry and Meghan went on a walkabout shaking hands and greeting around 300 well-wishers and school children who had waited patiently to meet them. Two elderly sisters, Irene Gould, 82, and her younger sibling June Dickinson, 78, were also ecstatic after meeting Harry and his fiancee. Mrs Gould said: "We were just so pleased to meet them, and how beautiful Meghan is. We thanked Harry for coming to see us and wished them all the best for their marriage." Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chat to two women on their visit to Birmingham Credit: Victoria Jones /PA Student Charlotte Highsmith, from Oxford, was overcome with excitement after meeting Meghan and said: "Oh my God, it was worth the wait - I've missed my lecture." The 20-year-old, who is studying criminology and policing at Birmingham City University, added: "Meghan just thanked us for waiting in the rain for her, but it wasn't a problem." The visit is the latest leg in the regional tours the prince and his fiancee are undertaking in the run-up to their May wedding, and follows trips to Edinburgh, Nottingham, Cardiff and Brixton in south London. Meghan Markle talks to children as she arrives in Birmingham Credit: Chris Jackson /Getty The events are giving Ms Markle a personal education in the issues faced in parts of the UK and nationally, and complement the private visits she is regularly making to organisations as she gets to know the UK charity sector. Thursday's highly-anticipated visit comes after it emerged Ms Markle has reportedly been baptised and confirmed in the Church of England at a private ceremony led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Birmingham's visit began with the now familiar walkabout before Harry and Ms Markle chatted to young women as they took part in building apps and touchpads, before hearing more about their motivations to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects. Prince Harry beams as he chats to children in Birmingham Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph Hosted by social enterprise Stemettes at Millennium Point, the event also offers information on work experience, apprenticeships, A-level choices, and university degrees in Stem topics. Harry and Ms Markle started the event by trying virtual headsets with students from Blessed Edward Oldcorne School in Birmingham. The couple tried on the headsets, which resembled a virtual rollercoaster. Ms Markle asked the students what they wanted to do as a career and was impressed with the answers of surgeons and doctors. The pupils described the experience as surreal after the couple shook their hands and went on to other workshops. Meghan Markle hugs a schoolgirl in Birmingham Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph After finishing talking through various pieces of technology with the students, the pair sat together to listen to speeches from inspiring women in Stem industries. Ms Markle was shocked by some of the technology on display, including pianos made out of bananas and how to "hack the web". She told some students that the coding they were working on was very impressive, saying: "Wow, that's really cool." Meghan Markle chats to youngsters Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph Prince Harry shared his finance's thoughts and encouraged the talented students to go into careers in science and maths. The couple left the event after both were given a goody bag which said: "I am not just a bag, I am a Stemettes bag." They received a huge round of applause from the 90 female students as they made their way to their next event. The couple also gave prizes to three winners of a speech-writing competition in which they spoke about their most inspiring women. Harry and Ms Markle nodded in approval after each of the speeches and gave all three a generous clap at the end. Meghan Markle kneels as he chats to flag-waving children Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for The Telegraph The Coach Core apprenticeship scheme was designed by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to train people aged 16 - 24 with limited opportunities to become sports coaches and mentors within their communities. During the year-long apprenticeship, which now operates in 10 cities across the UK, young people learn technical sport skills alongside an inclusive and holistic approach to coaching, with an emphasis on employability and mentoring skills. Ms Markle is due to become the fourth patron of the Royal Foundation when she marries the prince and the couple will chat to the apprentices about their experiences of the programme, launched in Birmingham in March last year, before joining them in the sports hall as they deliver practice training sessions. Royal well-wishers brave cold to greet couple Well-wishers began gathering hours before the prince and his bride-to-be were due to appear at Millennium Point. Despite the cold and wet conditions some in the crowds were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the couple who have been touring the nation since their engagement announcement last year. Stephen McNally, 61, from Stourbridge, said he travelled with a group of friends with many of them carrying bouquets for Ms Markle. Children wave flags as they wait to catch a glimpse of the royal couple Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Commenting on Harry's engagement to the American actress he said: "It will be different for her but I think they've learnt a lot from the past and that is why Meghan is doing these walkabouts and going round the country before she's getting married, I think it's really nice, rather than keeping things a secret like they used to do. "We hope to be going to Windsor for the wedding, on the streets or in the castle precinct." Schoolchildren await the arrival of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Retired teacher Josie Weeks, 62, from Leeds, got up at 5am to travel to Birmingham for the royal visit and carried a posy of white blooms for Ms Markle. She said: "I met the couple in Nottingham and just wanted to see them again and take some photographs. I think Harry's really coming into himself now with his charity work - he's stepped it up in the last few years. "The main thing is if he's happy with Meghan, that's all you want for him." Prince Harry: 'We want to get away from idea it’s all men in overalls and oily rags' On Wednesday, Prince Harry met young people from the Williams F1 Engineering Academy during a visit to Silverstone. Talking to female students Tara Vooght and Lauren Bull, both 15, who are studying there with the hope of going on to be engineers, he told them: “It’s a great choice, we want to get away from [the idea] that it’s all men in overalls and oily rags. “Do you think think that girls want to be [in engineering] and there aren’t opportunities or it is not really considered by them?” “There are a lot of stereotypes,” said Tara. “What men covered in grease?” asked Harry. “Yes, but it's not like that. There was a bit of adjustment at first from being at school but we are loving it.” Duchess of Cornwall also marking International Women’s Day The couple are not the only members of the Royal Family to mark International Women’s Day. The Duchess of Cornwall will host a reception at Clarence House to celebrate the day, in her role as president of the Southbank Centre’s Women of the World festival. Women Mean Business | Read about our campaign Guests are expected to include Annie Lennox, Mary Portas, Kate Mosse OBE, Fatima Manji, Josette Bushell-Mingo, Kathy Lette, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Baroness Valerie Amos, Jo Swinson MP and Jess Phillips MP. Telegraph Women Facebook Group banner

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

From Mary Portas to Karren Brady - what it's really like being a businesswoman in Britain

Women Mean Business banner Numerous studies - including exclusive new research by the Telegraph published to mark the launch of the 'Women Mean Business' campaign - have shown that female entrepreneurs in Britain find it harder to access startup funding. Indeed, only nine per cent of all UK startup money goes to women-led businesses each year, despite women owning 33 per cent of business is in Britain and a further one in eight wanting to become entrepreneurs. But behind the numbers there are human stories. Women - whether young and just starting out, or leaving corporate roles to start their own projects - are facing hurdles. Here, some prominent female founders tell us about the obstacles they overcame on the road to success... Baroness Karren Brady Baroness Karren Brady Credit: Rii Schroer 'When I took over Birmingham City in 1993, I was just 23-years-old. Being a woman, and a young woman, in the Nineties in a male dominated environment had its challenges. At my first press conference, I did a serious presentation about the club, its financial situation and more importantly what I planned to do about, it as well as what my ambitions were for it. When I was finished and I asked the press if they had any questions. I only got one: “what are your vital statistics?”. Clearly that was all they were interested in. At my first away game, I asked the steward on the door where the directors’ boardroom was and he pointed me to the ladies room. The steward presumed I was a director’s wife. When I politely pointed out I was the Managing Director, he told me to wait where I was and he would “find out what to do with me”, as in 1993 women were not allowed in the boardrooms of football clubs. I always say it was the first door I kicked down, and held open as long and as wide as possible to get as many other women through it!' Justine Roberts, Founder and CEO, Mumsnet The founder of Mumsnet Justine Roberts Credit: Geoff Pugh 'In the early days of Mumsnet, before the internet bubble burst I put together a business plan and began to tout it around. It was a bruising experience - many investors were sceptical to say the least - I just didn't fit the mould of young, male, business school grad and investors seemed unable to grasp the possibility that a mother might be the best CEO for a start-up based on my own idea and designed for other mothers. 'One German investor said authoritatively: “When you fail, give me a call and I will give you a job on my website” - they went bust 12 months later. Another told me that he liked my idea but that there was a fundamental problem. Namely, me. Had I "thought about recruiting an experienced CEO to run the company instead?" Even now that Mumsnet has grown to be one of the top 10 most visited social networks in the UK I still get investors asking me who we have to run the business side of things.' Dame Helena Morrissey Helena Morrissey of Newton Investment Management Credit: Andrew Crowley 'A great many people told me the 30% Club would fail. My hope was to create a campaign to achieve a real breakthrough in board diversity, to reach at least 30 per cent women directors. The approach would be collaborative, working with men, through voluntary actions. There were numerous counter-arguments – ‘we need legislation’, ‘it’s all been tried before’, ‘this is not a business issue’ - even after the financial crisis had so painfully demonstrated the risks when directors were similar and familiar. One day, a FTSE 100 chairman snapped at me ‘You’re going to destroy British business!’ That was just so wrong in every sense that it simply increased my resolve. Since then, the proportion of female FTSE 100 directors has increased from 12.5 per cent to over 28 per cent. There are now no all-male boards. More importantly, the mindset has shifted – diversity is now seen as part of what it takes to be a modern company.' Mary Portas, Broadcaster and retail consultant Mary Portas Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'We underestimate the role of instinct and intuition on business. Most great businesses are built on vision and instinct, but often investors ignore this side of things. That's where the disconnect comes, because women often work on instinct whereas men often just want to talk data.' 'I just thought why do I have to play this game, I'm going to do things differently, my own way, but even when you do that it's very difficult to unshackle yourself from the way things have always been done, the way men have always done things.' Nicola Elliot, Founder of Neom Nicola Elliot, founder of Neom Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley 'There needs to be more inspiring men doing job shares, taking extended paternity or seeing it as a valuable and worthwhile thing to do 50:50 childcare in the home, I think this is one of the biggest issues for my female friends, they just don’t have the time and support they need and are still expected to do the lions share of the family tasks. That means pushing on with any career is incredibly hard.' Jo Fairley, Co-founder of Green & Blacks Jo Fairley, founder of Green & Blacks and The Perfume Society, and author Credit: Martin Pope 'Women bring an intuition. We have a better sense of what will probably work. We’re not going to do something completely off the wall. [Our ideas] might not seem as bold as covering the entire Arizona desert in solar panels or whatever, but possibly we’re more pragmatic and practical.” The game is still played according to the rules laid down by the dinosaurs, where you’ve got to be at work for 18 hours a day, you’ve got to go to client dinners every night. And women just go you know what, I don’t really want that.” I think part of women not wanting to progress in larger organisations is because they’re going ‘I want to create a role for myself where I am in charge of my destiny and in charge of my time.' Ella Mills, entrepreneur and author, Deliciously Ella Ella Mills, also known as food blogger Deliciously Ella Credit: Jeff Gilbert 'I never thought I’d have the ability to start my own business. It’s not something I’d ever been encouraged to even consider growing up and therefore it felt way beyond the realms of possibility. Once I did start, I was dismissed by a lot of people, but fortunately, I also had a great close support group who greatly encouraged me. I’m passionate now about providing support to those females who aren’t lucky enough to have a support group like I did, and we must all pull together, both men and women, to ensure we do everything we can to support more female founders. There is no reason for men to be more funded or backed, and I hope to play a part in creating that positive change.' Rebekah Hall, Founder Botanics Cold Pressed Juices Rebekah Hall 'Human nature is to put people in pigeon holes, but I've always pushed against that. I spent 10 years in a profession that is assumed to be the bastion of testosterone filled men. A CEO of a well known luxury goods business once told me that the only way I was going to have the kind of job I wanted was to start a business myself. Corporate financiers don’t run businesses, particularly consumer ones. He hadn't meant them as words of encouragement, but I went on to found a business that is helping to shape the (consumer) category of healthy drinks in the UK. Among those cries of “you can’t” were voices of support. My mum, who taught me the tenacity that has taken me this far, but also the 2 investors that provided me with the capital and mentorship to navigate this difficult journey. They are both men incidentally.' Whitney Wolfe Herd, Founder of Bumble Founder of dating app Bumble, and co-founder of Tinder Whitney Wolfe 'Launching Bumble was one of the toughest, but most rewarding decisions of my life. When I look back to where I was three years ago, it's as though I'm a totally different person. The social impact we've been able to have as a brand is the most rewarding output you can wish for as a CEO, and I wouldn't change anything about the journey I've been on - despite Bumble being born out of experiences that were both professionally challenging and personally draining for me. I was told repeatedly by people – especially by investors, who statistically are majority male – that an idea and a mind-set like the one we’ve created with Bumble (encouraging kindness, respect and equality) wouldn’t be possible, and that it has no revenue potential. Through this journey I met Andrey Andrev (my business parter) who really believed in the vision, my passion and the need for a product like Bumble within the dating space. He gave us the resources to bring Bumble to life - something that wouldn't have been possible without him. This experience really defined for me what feminism should be about - supporting each other as individuals- irrespective of gender. This needs to evolve to create spaces where the playing field is levelled - equal thinking, equal access to opportunity, a seat at the table for everyone. No stigmas, no preconceptions, no opinions formed by social conditioning - we need all people, of all genders, races and ethnicities being treated fairly.' Karen Gill MBE and Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founders of Everywoman Karen Gill and Maxine Benson 'Twenty years ago, we were extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of starting our own enterprise. However, time and time again we were actively discouraged, specifically with one business advisor telling us not to bother as it would be much harder work than we could anticipate, we would struggle to find investment and ultimately would probably fail. This stark introduction to the barriers women faced when starting a business inspired us to start everywoman. We recognised that there was a need to connect, champion and inspire women in business, highlighting the successes women achieve when given the tools and encouragement to do so. From an idea triggered by being told we couldn’t, everywoman is now a network of thousands and reaches over 100 countries. We have hosted over 50 awards programmes inspiring the next generation of female talent, we are proud to have a plethora of Ambassadors that actively support our vision and we are in the process of our second funding round. Twenty years on, it turns out we could.' Holly Tucker, Co-founder notonthehighstreet Holly Tucker the founder of notonthehighstreet in her shop/space for creative small businesses , Holly & Co Credit: Geoff Pugh 'So many times in my entrepreneurial career, I’ve been told I couldn’t do something; that, somehow, being a woman made me less able to undertake certain challenges than my male counterparts. The thing that really sticks in my mind, is raising my first round of investment for Notonthehighstreet. I remember my co-founder Sophie Cornish and I, two (relatively!) young women, approaching male investors, and quickly being dismissed as ‘girls’ who wanted to start a craft retail site. We were told countless times that it wouldn’t work out; that, somehow, we were deemed more of a risk, because we were female retail fanatics. Suffice to say, each time I was told I couldn’t do something, it drove me to work harder. Each ‘no’ made me more determined to succeed, to prove the closed-minded naysayers wrong. I’m lucky enough that the first investor saw past gender and saw the future. To this day, he’s my mentor, biggest fan and life friend.' Natasha Stromberg, Founder of Genderbuzz Natasha Stromberg Credit: Genderbuzz ‘I became deeply frustrated by the Venture Capital scene in the U.K so I spoke to a Canadian friend of mine who introduced me to a Female tech Portfolio manager in Canada and I went out to see her to discuss my idea. She loved it and absolutely thought it had potential. It was the first time my idea had been seen as truly viable by someone in the venture capital world.' Pip Black and Joan Murphy, founders of Frame fitness studio Frame Fitness Studios Founders Joan Murphy and Pip Black Credit: Langley 'When Joan and I came up with the idea of Frame back in 2007, we were told that no one would help to fund a fitness business that went against the age-old strategy of "sell as many memberships as you can and hope that as few as possible of these members actually turn up." But we believed so strongly in the positive effects of getting people moving and making it an enjoyable experience that we worked all the hours putting together an in-depth business plan which allowed us to convince the bank that investing significant money into a pay-as-you-go fitness start-up run by two women in their mid 20's with no prior experience, was actually a good idea! So money in the bank we set about building Frame Shoreditch, and here we are 10 years later with six sites in London and more on their way.' Women Mean Business call to action

Phil Neville had urged his players to reach for the moon in order to win the SheBelieves Cup, but England were instead sent crashing back to earth by women football’s ultimate superpower, the USA. England aimed for the stars and missed and while there is no shame in that, there was a familiar sinking feeling. The Lionesses have once again hinted at what they can go on to achieve, but nothing more. England are a good team, but they are still one struggling to prove they can win when the pressure is on, in the pivotal games, in a knockout environment. The USA have been setting standards in the women’s game for a generation and although England have closed the gap considerably, they still give the impression they are a side that is going to find it hard to make the final leap across. There were reasons to be encouraged. England thrashed France in their first game and more than held Germany to a draw in New York, but they could not win their cup final. England head coach Phil Neville calls out instructions during the second half of the game Credit: AP Neville insisted England had to approach this game in the same way they would a World Cup Final, so to lose it, less than 16 months ahead of the next global tournament, is a concern. It leaves a very important box unticked. Then again, while a victory would have been nice against the No 1-ranked side and a trophy would have been rightly celebrated, especially given their previously poor record in this competition, it would have meant nothing if England flopped in France. Everything is building towards that tournament. Neville will be judged on the fact he told the FA he was the person who could transform the Lionesses from a losing semi-final team into a final winning one. This was a reminder just how hard that is going to be. “I think this shows how far we still have to go until we can call ourselves the best team in the world,” said Neville. “We’ve got to be realistic. I was really pleased with the last 30 minutes because when they scored they were threatening to run riot, it was though all the fear left us and we might have snatched an equaliser late on. USA celebrate their victory Credit: AP “But I don’t think that would have been a fair result, I think this was a bit of a reality check for us, but it’s just the start of the journey.” England have already become a different team under Neville. They intend to play on the front foot, even against the strongest rivals. It is a team in pursuit of style as well substance, which should be respected rather than queried at this stage. The USA may well have triumphed, but the margins were small. America rushed England’s players in possession, forcing mistakes and errors. England could not dictate the pace of the game; in fact, for long periods, they could not get on the ball at all. The Americans were better. England needed to hang in there, stay in the game, not lose it before half-time, but, in the end, USA were too good, forcing a string of mistakes that led to the only goal of the game, a cross from Megan Rapinoe that was sliced by both Abby McManus and Millie Bright before ending up in the England net, via the boot of goalkeeper Karen Bardsley. England needed more quality going forward, to show a bit of calm on the ball and some imagination, as well as precision, with their passing. Nikita Parris (right) goes in hard Credit: GETTY IMAGES But when they threatened the US goal, via Ellen White at the far post, it drew a stinging response from the home team. Bardsley just about tipped away a low effort from Rapinoe, before Mallory Pugh weaved her way inside from the left and hit a shot that clipped the outside of the post. The US remained on top after the break, Tierna Davidson heading wide at a corner, before Pugh was sent in on goal, only for her shot to be well saved by Bardsley. England were rattled. Neville made changes, Toni Duggan and Nikita Parris replacing Mel Lawley and the ineffectual Jodie Taylor in a bid to spark something that might worry USA. Instead, a terrible mistake by Bronze, losing the ball on the edge of her own area, almost let in Rapinoe, but Bardsley made a strong save to spare her captain’s blushes. It was merely delaying the inevitable and USA finally took the lead when Bright stabbed the ball into her own net. It was the Chelsea defender’s second own goal in as many games, but this time she has to take the blame. Pressure, though, forces mistakes. England were being out-played, although White almost got on the end of a dangerous cross, appearing to misjudge the timing of her jump. England came even closer in the dying stages, White heading the ball against the post with Jill Scott just beaten to the rebound by Pugh, who did well to avoid doing the same as Bright. England (4-2-1-3): Bardsley (Man City); Bronze (Lyon), McManus (Man City), Bright (Chelsea), Stokes (Man City) (Blundell 87); Walsh (Man City) Scott (87) Christiansen (Man City), Kirby (Chelsea); Lawley (Man City) (Duggan 52), Taylor (Seattle Reign) (Parris 52), White (Birmingham City).

Phil Neville had urged his players to reach for the moon in order to win the SheBelieves Cup, but England were instead sent crashing back to earth by women football’s ultimate superpower, the USA. England aimed for the stars and missed and while there is no shame in that, there was a familiar sinking feeling. The Lionesses have once again hinted at what they can go on to achieve, but nothing more. England are a good team, but they are still one struggling to prove they can win when the pressure is on, in the pivotal games, in a knockout environment. The USA have been setting standards in the women’s game for a generation and although England have closed the gap considerably, they still give the impression they are a side that is going to find it hard to make the final leap across. There were reasons to be encouraged. England thrashed France in their first game and more than held Germany to a draw in New York, but they could not win their cup final. England head coach Phil Neville calls out instructions during the second half of the game Credit: AP Neville insisted England had to approach this game in the same way they would a World Cup Final, so to lose it, less than 16 months ahead of the next global tournament, is a concern. It leaves a very important box unticked. Then again, while a victory would have been nice against the No 1-ranked side and a trophy would have been rightly celebrated, especially given their previously poor record in this competition, it would have meant nothing if England flopped in France. Everything is building towards that tournament. Neville will be judged on the fact he told the FA he was the person who could transform the Lionesses from a losing semi-final team into a final winning one. This was a reminder just how hard that is going to be. “I think this shows how far we still have to go until we can call ourselves the best team in the world,” said Neville. “We’ve got to be realistic. I was really pleased with the last 30 minutes because when they scored they were threatening to run riot, it was though all the fear left us and we might have snatched an equaliser late on. USA celebrate their victory Credit: AP “But I don’t think that would have been a fair result, I think this was a bit of a reality check for us, but it’s just the start of the journey.” England have already become a different team under Neville. They intend to play on the front foot, even against the strongest rivals. It is a team in pursuit of style as well substance, which should be respected rather than queried at this stage. The USA may well have triumphed, but the margins were small. America rushed England’s players in possession, forcing mistakes and errors. England could not dictate the pace of the game; in fact, for long periods, they could not get on the ball at all. The Americans were better. England needed to hang in there, stay in the game, not lose it before half-time, but, in the end, USA were too good, forcing a string of mistakes that led to the only goal of the game, a cross from Megan Rapinoe that was sliced by both Abby McManus and Millie Bright before ending up in the England net, via the boot of goalkeeper Karen Bardsley. England needed more quality going forward, to show a bit of calm on the ball and some imagination, as well as precision, with their passing. Nikita Parris (right) goes in hard Credit: GETTY IMAGES But when they threatened the US goal, via Ellen White at the far post, it drew a stinging response from the home team. Bardsley just about tipped away a low effort from Rapinoe, before Mallory Pugh weaved her way inside from the left and hit a shot that clipped the outside of the post. The US remained on top after the break, Tierna Davidson heading wide at a corner, before Pugh was sent in on goal, only for her shot to be well saved by Bardsley. England were rattled. Neville made changes, Toni Duggan and Nikita Parris replacing Mel Lawley and the ineffectual Jodie Taylor in a bid to spark something that might worry USA. Instead, a terrible mistake by Bronze, losing the ball on the edge of her own area, almost let in Rapinoe, but Bardsley made a strong save to spare her captain’s blushes. It was merely delaying the inevitable and USA finally took the lead when Bright stabbed the ball into her own net. It was the Chelsea defender’s second own goal in as many games, but this time she has to take the blame. Pressure, though, forces mistakes. England were being out-played, although White almost got on the end of a dangerous cross, appearing to misjudge the timing of her jump. England came even closer in the dying stages, White heading the ball against the post with Jill Scott just beaten to the rebound by Pugh, who did well to avoid doing the same as Bright. England (4-2-1-3): Bardsley (Man City); Bronze (Lyon), McManus (Man City), Bright (Chelsea), Stokes (Man City) (Blundell 87); Walsh (Man City) Scott (87) Christiansen (Man City), Kirby (Chelsea); Lawley (Man City) (Duggan 52), Taylor (Seattle Reign) (Parris 52), White (Birmingham City).

Phil Neville had urged his players to reach for the moon in order to win the SheBelieves Cup, but England were instead sent crashing back to earth by women football’s ultimate superpower, the USA. England aimed for the stars and missed and while there is no shame in that, there was a familiar sinking feeling. The Lionesses have once again hinted at what they can go on to achieve, but nothing more. England are a good team, but they are still one struggling to prove they can win when the pressure is on, in the pivotal games, in a knockout environment. The USA have been setting standards in the women’s game for a generation and although England have closed the gap considerably, they still give the impression they are a side that is going to find it hard to make the final leap across. There were reasons to be encouraged. England thrashed France in their first game and more than held Germany to a draw in New York, but they could not win their cup final. England head coach Phil Neville calls out instructions during the second half of the game Credit: AP Neville insisted England had to approach this game in the same way they would a World Cup Final, so to lose it, less than 16 months ahead of the next global tournament, is a concern. It leaves a very important box unticked. Then again, while a victory would have been nice against the No 1-ranked side and a trophy would have been rightly celebrated, especially given their previously poor record in this competition, it would have meant nothing if England flopped in France. Everything is building towards that tournament. Neville will be judged on the fact he told the FA he was the person who could transform the Lionesses from a losing semi-final team into a final winning one. This was a reminder just how hard that is going to be. “I think this shows how far we still have to go until we can call ourselves the best team in the world,” said Neville. “We’ve got to be realistic. I was really pleased with the last 30 minutes because when they scored they were threatening to run riot, it was though all the fear left us and we might have snatched an equaliser late on. USA celebrate their victory Credit: AP “But I don’t think that would have been a fair result, I think this was a bit of a reality check for us, but it’s just the start of the journey.” England have already become a different team under Neville. They intend to play on the front foot, even against the strongest rivals. It is a team in pursuit of style as well substance, which should be respected rather than queried at this stage. The USA may well have triumphed, but the margins were small. America rushed England’s players in possession, forcing mistakes and errors. England could not dictate the pace of the game; in fact, for long periods, they could not get on the ball at all. The Americans were better. England needed to hang in there, stay in the game, not lose it before half-time, but, in the end, USA were too good, forcing a string of mistakes that led to the only goal of the game, a cross from Megan Rapinoe that was sliced by both Abby McManus and Millie Bright before ending up in the England net, via the boot of goalkeeper Karen Bardsley. England needed more quality going forward, to show a bit of calm on the ball and some imagination, as well as precision, with their passing. Nikita Parris (right) goes in hard Credit: GETTY IMAGES But when they threatened the US goal, via Ellen White at the far post, it drew a stinging response from the home team. Bardsley just about tipped away a low effort from Rapinoe, before Mallory Pugh weaved her way inside from the left and hit a shot that clipped the outside of the post. The US remained on top after the break, Tierna Davidson heading wide at a corner, before Pugh was sent in on goal, only for her shot to be well saved by Bardsley. England were rattled. Neville made changes, Toni Duggan and Nikita Parris replacing Mel Lawley and the ineffectual Jodie Taylor in a bid to spark something that might worry USA. Instead, a terrible mistake by Bronze, losing the ball on the edge of her own area, almost let in Rapinoe, but Bardsley made a strong save to spare her captain’s blushes. It was merely delaying the inevitable and USA finally took the lead when Bright stabbed the ball into her own net. It was the Chelsea defender’s second own goal in as many games, but this time she has to take the blame. Pressure, though, forces mistakes. England were being out-played, although White almost got on the end of a dangerous cross, appearing to misjudge the timing of her jump. England came even closer in the dying stages, White heading the ball against the post with Jill Scott just beaten to the rebound by Pugh, who did well to avoid doing the same as Bright. England (4-2-1-3): Bardsley (Man City); Bronze (Lyon), McManus (Man City), Bright (Chelsea), Stokes (Man City) (Blundell 87); Walsh (Man City) Scott (87) Christiansen (Man City), Kirby (Chelsea); Lawley (Man City) (Duggan 52), Taylor (Seattle Reign) (Parris 52), White (Birmingham City).

Phil Neville had urged his players to reach for the moon in order to win the SheBelieves Cup, but England were instead sent crashing back to earth by women football’s ultimate superpower, the USA. England aimed for the stars and missed and while there is no shame in that, there was a familiar sinking feeling. The Lionesses have once again hinted at what they can go on to achieve, but nothing more. England are a good team, but they are still one struggling to prove they can win when the pressure is on, in the pivotal games, in a knockout environment. The USA have been setting standards in the women’s game for a generation and although England have closed the gap considerably, they still give the impression they are a side that is going to find it hard to make the final leap across. There were reasons to be encouraged. England thrashed France in their first game and more than held Germany to a draw in New York, but they could not win their cup final. England head coach Phil Neville calls out instructions during the second half of the game Credit: AP Neville insisted England had to approach this game in the same way they would a World Cup Final, so to lose it, less than 16 months ahead of the next global tournament, is a concern. It leaves a very important box unticked. Then again, while a victory would have been nice against the No 1-ranked side and a trophy would have been rightly celebrated, especially given their previously poor record in this competition, it would have meant nothing if England flopped in France. Everything is building towards that tournament. Neville will be judged on the fact he told the FA he was the person who could transform the Lionesses from a losing semi-final team into a final winning one. This was a reminder just how hard that is going to be. “I think this shows how far we still have to go until we can call ourselves the best team in the world,” said Neville. “We’ve got to be realistic. I was really pleased with the last 30 minutes because when they scored they were threatening to run riot, it was though all the fear left us and we might have snatched an equaliser late on. USA celebrate their victory Credit: AP “But I don’t think that would have been a fair result, I think this was a bit of a reality check for us, but it’s just the start of the journey.” England have already become a different team under Neville. They intend to play on the front foot, even against the strongest rivals. It is a team in pursuit of style as well substance, which should be respected rather than queried at this stage. The USA may well have triumphed, but the margins were small. America rushed England’s players in possession, forcing mistakes and errors. England could not dictate the pace of the game; in fact, for long periods, they could not get on the ball at all. The Americans were better. England needed to hang in there, stay in the game, not lose it before half-time, but, in the end, USA were too good, forcing a string of mistakes that led to the only goal of the game, a cross from Megan Rapinoe that was sliced by both Abby McManus and Millie Bright before ending up in the England net, via the boot of goalkeeper Karen Bardsley. England needed more quality going forward, to show a bit of calm on the ball and some imagination, as well as precision, with their passing. Nikita Parris (right) goes in hard Credit: GETTY IMAGES But when they threatened the US goal, via Ellen White at the far post, it drew a stinging response from the home team. Bardsley just about tipped away a low effort from Rapinoe, before Mallory Pugh weaved her way inside from the left and hit a shot that clipped the outside of the post. The US remained on top after the break, Tierna Davidson heading wide at a corner, before Pugh was sent in on goal, only for her shot to be well saved by Bardsley. England were rattled. Neville made changes, Toni Duggan and Nikita Parris replacing Mel Lawley and the ineffectual Jodie Taylor in a bid to spark something that might worry USA. Instead, a terrible mistake by Bronze, losing the ball on the edge of her own area, almost let in Rapinoe, but Bardsley made a strong save to spare her captain’s blushes. It was merely delaying the inevitable and USA finally took the lead when Bright stabbed the ball into her own net. It was the Chelsea defender’s second own goal in as many games, but this time she has to take the blame. Pressure, though, forces mistakes. England were being out-played, although White almost got on the end of a dangerous cross, appearing to misjudge the timing of her jump. England came even closer in the dying stages, White heading the ball against the post with Jill Scott just beaten to the rebound by Pugh, who did well to avoid doing the same as Bright. England (4-2-1-3): Bardsley (Man City); Bronze (Lyon), McManus (Man City), Bright (Chelsea), Stokes (Man City) (Blundell 87); Walsh (Man City) Scott (87) Christiansen (Man City), Kirby (Chelsea); Lawley (Man City) (Duggan 52), Taylor (Seattle Reign) (Parris 52), White (Birmingham City).

Birmingham turn to Monk in quest for Championship salvation

Garry Monk's first match as Birmingham City manager will come against his former team Middlesbrough on Tuesday.

Birmingham City Appoint Former Swansea and Leeds Boss Garry Monk as New Manager

Former Swansea City and Leeds United manager Garry Monk has been appointed Birmingham City boss. Monk, who was most recently employed by ​Middlesbrough, will replace Steve Cotterill at ​Birmingham and will face former club Boro in his first game in charge, with the sides set to clash on Tuesday night. OFFICIAL: The Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Garry Monk as Manager. Full details can be found here: https://t.co/yhTiZR30q6 #BCFC pic.twitter.com/Vs0P4MSCA0 — Birmingham City FC...

Birmingham City Appoint Former Swansea and Leeds Boss Garry Monk as New Manager

Former Swansea City and Leeds United manager Garry Monk has been appointed Birmingham City boss. Monk, who was most recently employed by ​Middlesbrough, will replace Steve Cotterill at ​Birmingham and will face former club Boro in his first game in charge, with the sides set to clash on Tuesday night. OFFICIAL: The Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Garry Monk as Manager. Full details can be found here: https://t.co/yhTiZR30q6 #BCFC pic.twitter.com/Vs0P4MSCA0 — Birmingham City FC...

Birmingham City Appoint Former Swansea and Leeds Boss Garry Monk as New Manager

Former Swansea City and Leeds United manager Garry Monk has been appointed Birmingham City boss. Monk, who was most recently employed by ​Middlesbrough, will replace Steve Cotterill at ​Birmingham and will face former club Boro in his first game in charge, with the sides set to clash on Tuesday night. OFFICIAL: The Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Garry Monk as Manager. Full details can be found here: https://t.co/yhTiZR30q6 #BCFC pic.twitter.com/Vs0P4MSCA0 — Birmingham City FC...

Garry Monk is set to take over at crisis club Birmingham City in the next 24 hours, with a reunion against Middlesbrough lying in wait. Monk will replace Steve Cotterill as manager of the struggling Championship club and is facing Middlesbrough – the club who sacked him in December – in his first game on Tuesday night. The former Swansea and Leeds manager will be assisted by Pep Clotet and has 11 games remaining to save Birmingham from the prospect of dropping into League One. Cotterill was summoned for talks with Birmingham's owners after Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest and dismissed, five months after he replaced Harry Redknapp. The 53-year-old was understood to have been told before the talks that his departure would be confirmed as mutual consent but was stunned when Birmingham sacked him instead. It is Birmingham's fourth sacking since the controversial exit of Gary Rowett in December 2016 and raises further questions over Trillion Trophy Asia, the club's Chinese owners. Telegraph Sport understands that chief executive Xuandong Ren is also battling to save his job after failing to make any transfer signings in the January transfer window. Darren Dein, the agent working as a highly-paid consultant, has also been marginalised. Cotterill had deals lined up for Preston forward Jordan Hugill, who joined West Ham for £8m, and Chelsea attacker Kasey Palmer – who snubbed Birmingham to join Derby on loan. But Birmingham’s transfer activity was allegedly disrupted by an ongoing row between Ren and Dein in the boardroom, leaving Cotterill unable to make any additions. Recent results have now forced Birmingham’s owners into making another change and Monk has agreed to take the job. Monk, 38, was sacked by Middlesbrough in December, hours after a win at Sheffield Wednesday, and will face his former club at St. Andrew's on Tuesday. Birmingham are 22nd in the league and two points adrift of safety after the defeat at Forest, their fifth in a row.

Despite only being appointed last September, Steve Cotterill has lost his job at Championship strugglers Birmingham City.

Steve Cotterill sacked as Birmingham City manager as club face relegation to League One

Steve Cotterill has been sacked as manager of Birmingham City, with the club facing the prospect of dropping into League One. Cotterill was summoned for talks with Birmingham’s owners following Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Nottingham Forest and was dismissed after a run of five successive league defeats which has dragged the Championship club back into the relegation zone, two points adrift of safety. Garry Monk, the former Swansea and Middlesbrough manager, is widely expected to be confirmed as Cotterill’s replacement within the next 48 hours. Cotterill’s impending departure ends a frustrating period for the 53 year-old, who was unable to sign any players in the January transfer window. Telegraph Sport understands that he had deals lined up for Preston forward Jordan Hugill, who joined West Ham for £8 million, and Chelsea attacker Kasey Palmer, who snubbed Birmingham to join Derby on loan. But Birmingham’s transfer activity was allegedly disrupted by an ongoing row between two key figures in the boardroom, leaving Cotterill unable to make any additions. Recent results have now forced Birmingham’s owners, Trillion Trophy Asia, into making their third dugout change in under 12 months. As well as Cotterill, his backroom staff have also been shown the door. “Steve’s contract, and those of the backroom staff - first-team coach Paul Groves, first-team coach Paul Williams, goalkeeper coach Kevin Hitchcock, director of football Jeff Vetere, David Alvarez (head of sports science and medical) and Albert Altarriba-Bartes (first-team strength and conditioning coach) - have been terminated with immediate effect,” said Birmingham in a statement. “The board would like to place on record their sincere thanks to Steve, not only for his significant contribution at the conclusion of last season for which we will remain grateful, but also for his genuine efforts, contribution and hard work during his tenure in this 2017/18 campaign. “Steve has conducted himself professionally on behalf of the club at all times, his work ethic and honesty are a credit to him and there is a genuine sadness at this decision. However, the board feel that a change in management at this stage is in the best interests of the football club.”

Steve Cotterill sacked as Birmingham City manager as club face relegation to League One

Steve Cotterill sacked as Birmingham City manager as club face relegation to League One

Birmingham City sack Steve Cotterill after Forest loss

Birmingham City sack Steve Cotterill after Forest loss

Arsenal vs Manchester City, Carabao Cup final 2018: When is the match, what TV channel is it on and what is our prediction?

Arsenal vs Manchester City, Carabao Cup final: live score updates What is it? It is the first major final of the English season as Manchester City face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final. When is it? The final is at Wembley on Sunday afternoon. What time is kick-off? The match will get under way at 4.30pm, with a possibility of extra time and penalties. What TV channel is it on? The Carabao Cup final is part of a triple-header Super Sunday on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event. Coverage begins at 11am, with Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur first up before Man Utd vs Chelsea at 2.05pm and then the big final. Sit back and enjoy, or bookmark this page and return on matchday to follow every kick at Wembley with our live blog. Get a NOW TV Sky Sports Day Pass for just £7.99 and stream Arsenal vs Man City live from 4.30pm on Sunday What is the team news? The fitness of Aaron Ramsey is Arsenal's principal injury concern as they head to Wembley. The central midfielder missed their 1-0 defeat to Spurs with a 'minor' groin injury but Arsene Wenger revealed last week he had not progressed as quickly as anticipated. The Arsenal manager is expected to respect his policy of starting second-choice goalkeeper David Ospina in cup competitions, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan is cup-tied. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is available again after sitting out Arsenal's back-to-back Europa League games. Pick your Arsenal XI to start against Man City Pep Guardiola will have to pick his Wembley left-back with Fabian Delph suspended following his straight red card in the FA Cup upset at Wigan. Leroy Sane has returned from injury, while Kevin De Bruyne will be restored to the starting XI after his rest at the DW Stadium. Claudio Bravo has been City's goalkeeper throughout the competition, but Guardiola could recall first-choice goalkeeper Ederson. Playmaker David Silva has missed games for family reasons but is back in the fold, while Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi are available. Gabriel Jesus remains sidelined. Pick your Man City XI to face Arsenal How have they made it to Wembley? Arsenal Third round: Arsenal 1 Doncaster Rovers 0 Fourth round: Arsenal 2 Norwich City 1 Quarter-final: Arsenal 1 West Ham 0 Semi-final: Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1 (aggregate) Man City Third round: West Brom 1 Man City 2 Fourth round: Man City 0 Wolves 0 (3-1 pens) Quarter-final: Leicester City 1 Man City 1 (3-4 pens) Semi-final: Man City 5 Bristol City 3 (aggregate) Listen to Sol Campbell's interview on the Total Football podcast: What is the history of both clubs in the League Cup? Arsenal have won the FA Cup a record 13 times, but have only won English football's other domestic cup twice. The last time was in 1993, when Steve Morrow scored the winner against Sheffield Wednesday. Arsenal captain Tony Adams then dropped Morrow during the post-match celebrations who spent the next day in hospital with a broken arm. Arsenal have lost two finals under Wenger - to Chelsea in 2007 and Birmingham City in 2011. Where will Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fit in at Arsenal? City have won the cup on four times, including in 2014 and 2016. The 2014 victory over Sunderland was famous for two sumptuous strikes from Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure, while Wily Caballero was the hero in 2016 in a penalty shootout triumph over Liverpool. What are the odds? Match odds Arsenal 18/5 Man City 8/13 Draw 14/5 To lift the trophy Arsenal 2/1 Man City 4/11 What is our prediction? Arsenal have a fine Wembley record in cup competitions, but we cannot look past the champions elect. To have success against City, you either need to press intensely to stop their build-up play from the back or retreat into a deeper defensive shape and look to frustrate them. Arsenal do not really look suited to either strategy, and while Wenger's side have enough attacking talent to score we cannot see them halting the waves of light blue attacks. Verdict: Arsenal 1 Man City 3

EFL introduce new rules to stop teams playing weakened sides

Lower-league clubs face punishment if they rest 10 or more players during matches towards the end of the season following a toughening up of rules on weakened teams. English Football League sides on Thursday agreed a definition of what constituted a full-strength line-up after Huddersfield Town made 10 changes for their fixture at Birmingham City in the closing weeks of last term. EFL Regulation 24 already states that clubs are required to play “full strength” teams in all matches “unless some satisfactory reason is given”. But Huddersfield escaped punishment over their line-up in a game which followed them confirming a place in the Championship play-offs. Birmingham won the match 2-0 and went on to avoid relegation at the expense of Blackburn Rovers, who had criticised Huddersfield’s selection. The new policy, which comes into effect from next month, states: “For any league match played on or after the fourth Thursday in March, any team sheet for a league game should include at least 10 outfield players who featured on the team sheet for the league match before.” The EFL added: “In the event any club breaches the threshold, they may be charged with a breach of Regulation 24 and the matter will be referred to a disciplinary commission.” As revealed by Telegraph Sport, the 72 clubs also voted to follow the Premier League’s lead by shutting its transfer window early. But it was a close call, with less than 58 per cent of those polled agreeing a switch that will see lower-league teams prevented from buying players from 5pm on the Thursday after the start of their season. The timing was chosen to harmonise the closure of their window with that of the Premier League, whose clubs voted in September for a cut-off the Thursday before they kick off. That date will fall on August 9 next season.

Arsenal vs Manchester City, Carabao Cup final 2018: When is the match, what TV channel is it on and what are the latest odds?

What is it? It is the first major final of the English season as Manchester City face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final. When is it? The final is at Wembley on Sunday afternoon. What time is kick-off? The match will get under way at 4.30pm, with a possibility of extra time and penalties. What TV channel is it on? The Carabao Cup final is part of a triple-header Super Sunday on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event. Coverage begins at 11am, with Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur first up before Man Utd vs Chelsea at 2.05pm and then the big final. Sit back and enjoy, or bookmark this page and return on matchday to follow every kick at Wembley with our live blog. Get a NOW TV Sky Sports Day Pass for just £7.99 and stream Arsenal vs Man City live from 4.30pm on Sunday What is the team news? The fitness of Aaron Ramsey is Arsenal's principal injury concern as they head to Wembley. The central midfielder missed their 1-0 defeat to Spurs with a 'minor' groin injury but Arsene Wenger revealed last week he had not progressed as quickly as anticipated. The Arsenal manager is expected to respect his policy of starting second-choice goalkeeper David Ospina in cup competitions, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan is cup-tied. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is available again after sitting out Arsenal's back-to-back Europa League games. Pick your Arsenal XI to start against Man City Pep Guardiola will have to pick his Wembley left-back with Fabian Delph suspended following his straight red card in the FA Cup upset at Wigan. Leroy Sane has returned from injury, while Kevin De Bruyne will be restored to the starting XI after his rest at the DW Stadium. Claudio Bravo has been City's goalkeeper throughout the competition, but Guardiola could recall first-choice goalkeeper Ederson. Playmaker David Silva has missed games for family reasons but is back in the fold, while Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi are available. Gabriel Jesus remains sidelined. Pick your Man City XI to face Arsenal How have they made it to Wembley? Arsenal Third round: Arsenal 1 Doncaster Rovers 0 Fourth round: Arsenal 2 Norwich City 1 Quarter-final: Arsenal 1 West Ham 0 Semi-final: Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1 (aggregate) Man City Third round: West Brom 1 Man City 2 Fourth round: Man City 0 Wolves 0 (3-1 pens) Quarter-final: Leicester City 1 Man City 1 (3-4 pens) Semi-final: Man City 5 Bristol City 3 (aggregate) What is the history of both clubs in the League Cup? Arsenal have won the FA Cup a record 13 times, but have only won English football's other domestic cup twice. The last time was in 1993, when Steve Morrow scored the winner against Sheffield Wednesday. Arsenal captain Tony Adams then dropped Morrow during the post-match celebrations who spent the next day in hospital with a broken arm. Arsenal have lost two finals under Wenger - to Chelsea in 2007 and Birmingham City in 2011. Where will Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fit in at Arsenal? City have won the cup on four times, including in 2014 and 2016. The 2014 victory over Sunderland was famous for two sumptuous strikes from Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure, while Wily Caballero was the hero in 2016 in a penalty shootout triumph over Liverpool. What are the odds? Match odds Arsenal 18/5 Man City 8/13 Draw 14/5 To lift the trophy Arsenal 2/1 Man City 4/11 What is our prediction? Arsenal have a fine Wembley record in cup competitions, but we cannot look past the champions elect. To have success against City, you either need to press intensely to stop their build-up play from the back or retreat into a deeper defensive shape and look to frustrate them. Arsenal do not really look suited to either strategy, and while Wenger's side have enough attacking talent to score we cannot see them halting the waves of light blue attacks. Verdict: Arsenal 1 Man City 3

Championship roundup: Brentford blast five past Birmingham City while Aston Villa miss chance to go second

Championship roundup: Brentford blast five past Birmingham City while Aston Villa miss chance to go second

Championship roundup: Brentford blast five past Birmingham City while Aston Villa miss chance to go second

Championship roundup: Brentford blast five past Birmingham City while Aston Villa miss chance to go second

Championship roundup: Brentford blast five past Birmingham City while Aston Villa miss chance to go second

Championship roundup: Brentford blast five past Birmingham City while Aston Villa miss chance to go second

In the case of Alex McLeish’s appointment as Scotland manager, it seems - if one may plunder an immortal line from Casablanca – that destiny has taken a hand. The Tartan Army remain to be persuaded, to judge by the predominantly negative social media reaction to the 59-year-old’s return to the job he quit in 2007 to move to Birmingham City, but McLeish does not see himself as third choice, although Michael O’Neill and Walter Smith rejected advances by the Scottish Football Association before the governing body turned to him. “It feels a bit surreal but I believe I’m the guy for the job,” McLeish said. “When I looked at other guys who have gone back to take charge of their national teams for a second time - like Dick Advocaat and Louis Van Gaal - I thought ‘Yeah, that could be on for me some time’. “The opportunity arose and I felt I had to go for it, because I believe it was my destiny.” Asked how he had reacted to the invitations extended to O’Neill and Smith in the aftermath of Gordon Strachan’s departure, along with their subsequent rejections, McLeish said: “One was ‘Ya beauty!’, the next one was ‘Oh, Walter is getting it.’ “When Walter abdicated I thought, ‘I’m in again’ but, honestly, I felt it was fate. It was meant to happen. Michael was the first choice, let’s not make any bones about that, but I have always felt I was the right guy to be the next Scotland coach.” Scotland’s first outing under McLeish will be the home friendly with Costa Rica on March 23 but he faces formidable opposition from Tartan Army supporters who have expressed disapproval of his decision to move to the Premier League in England 11 years ago, in the aftermath of the Scots’ narrow failure to qualify for Euro 2008. “Listen, of course I can understand it,” he said. “You get divided opinion. The only way to change it is by performing well and getting good results. That is the cure for dissent. “I had seven months to wait before the next tournament started. I would have been a professional supporter, watching all the games, watching all the players up and do the country, but I really missed the day to day stuff. “There was an element of thinking that I was still young enough to go and take that challenge on. To be asked to go to the Premier League is an ambition that a lot of managers would have taken, probably the majority. “If we had just qualified there is no way that I would have left. I would have seen us right through to the finals, ambition or not. “I would probably have been offered something after the finals. I was so gutted that we missed it by a whisker. Faddy (James McFadden) had a wee chance at 1-1 in the final qualifier against Italy, when the ball came across the box and he slid at it. Your life flashes in front of your eyes.” With no active interest in this summer’s World Cup finals and the Euro 2020 qualifiers not scheduled to begin until March next year, McLeish will have to get the best from a programme of six friendlies and two home-and-away Nations League meetings with Albania and Israel. His political skills will be tested by the demands of two challenge matches arranged for the close season, one against Peru in Lima on May 29 and the other against Mexico in the Azteca Stadium on June 2. Celtic provided the core of Scotland’s strength during Strachan’s unbeaten run of seven games last year, with Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong, Scott Brown, James Forrest and Leigh Griffiths all named for the final World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Slovenia. Celtic, however, completed a clean sweep of the domestic honours last season and are on course to repeat the feat but must negotiate four round of Champions League qualifiers if they win the Scottish title again this time around. McLeish was unveiled on Friday at Hampden Park Credit: Getty Images The prospect of sending players to South America after another draining club season has not enchanted Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager. McLeish acknowledged the concerns, while comparing current circumstances with his own career as a central defender with Aberdeen. “Back in my day if we had been promised a trip to Peru and Mexico in the summer we’d have been ecstatic,” he said. “It would have been, ‘Hallelujah, brilliant’ but, yeah, I can understand the clubs’ stance with the way European football is now mapped out. “I do understand that they maybe feel it wasn’t appropriate timing, but it’s there, we are going to go and it may be a good opportunity for other players. We are borrowing their players to turn out for the national team. “We have to address that nearer the time. I have to have a rapport with the clubs. We will talk, we’ll communicate and see what kind of answers we get.” McLeish has already begun the task of assembling a backroom staff – “I’ve made some phone calls and I’m hopeful of announcing that maybe some time next week” – before he returned to his opening theme. “I feel I’m a better manager now. The common-sense factor grows and you see things from a different way. In terms of destiny, I just feel it’s the right time for me.”